by Faithful Witness 21 Replies latest watchtower bible
I suppose you could define an elderette as a sister in the congregation who has delusions of power. She wants to be an elder! She is often married to an elder so she basks in his reflected glory.
About the now infamous 'following directions no matter how crazy', I am an elder and I wouldn't do it if it didn't make sense to me. Don't know how long I am going to stay one though.
Faithful, love to read your thread about your "study" sessions!
I know what you mean about being blindsided with crazy statements and not having a ready answer, but just turn the tables on these ladies. When I was out annoying people at their homes, we were taught that if we didn't know the answer to a question at the door, we should write it down and tell the householder we would return with an answer.
Soooo....stop Miss K&W the next time, and say "Wait, I want to be sure I get this right" and proceed to slowly make them repeat what they said. Say each word as you write it down. Then read the whole thing back to them slowly. It not only gives you control of the conversation but may even make them realize how stoopid their comments sound when they hear them echoed back.
Either way, it's a win for you as you have control.
The tactic of having them stop, repeat, you write it down, them repeat what they say, it's fantastic! So many times I notice my husband seems to be on "auto pilot" with his reasoning. This creates a dissconnect with the "auto pilot".
Nice
Well, hmmm...I think I may have a couple of new ideas here. :) Thank you!
cultBgone you genius I would love to use this on this really patronising elder I know
running into DF'd ones in public. One was at a meeting or seminar with her, and she claimed that "since I did not know the details or story behind what had happened, I did say hello
What on Earth? That's a new one.
She is not supposed to "know the story behind". She is supposed to follow jehoopla's commands unquestioningly.
Saying hello to a DF person is a serious offense. She now shares in his/her sin.
did jesus shun?....no.
cultBgone: I WILL use that technique next time they come (scheduled now for April 25). Thank you thank you thank you! Give me a chance to take a breath and maybe ask a follow-up question also. Briliiant technique, and I think I can use it.
rebel8: She also approached me the first time with the comment (and an inquisitive look on her face), "I don't know what happened. Why did you stop coming to the meetings? Are you still studying with Mr. Talktoomuch?" It really came across as nosey, but she followed up with, "Is there some question I can answer, and help you?"
I had another encounter with a character in this web of JW's yesterday. I suspect that Miss K might be visiting apostate websites, but she may just be getting exposed to a lot of outside information. She has made side comments about "this other woman I study with told me..." and then she had a totally different story from "another lady..." She is struggling inside, and it does seem like her natural personality is getting in the way of her cult obedience.
Enlightenment: Welcome! I love the avatar you got. Your comments are very close to my thoughts. I will come back and connect with you when I have more time to catch up on JWN. I was never a JW, but I am literally surrounded by them. I encounter them at least once a week, and my parents and sister were baptized as JWs within the last 4 years. If you click on my name, you can read more of my experiences. I might be rocking the boat and helping my mother to wake from her trance, but now she seems to be avoiding me again. I confronted my JW family through a "reply all" email about 18 months ago, and caused a huge mess. I am still in damage-control mode from that episode, and have lost my sister and am now watching my father drift away. I am bracing myself to become a statistic, as it is obvious that the Watchtower Society DOES have something specific planned. They are being groomed to obey.
On my mother's last visit, I asked her if she really believed that the governing body spoke for Jehovah directly. She responded with "Yes." She didn't even take a breath first. I was stunned, and I wonder if she was. We were having dinner at a noisy pub at the time, so the conversation didn't get very deep... but that was a shocker and a thought-stopper!
There two WT articles discussed on this forum that enraged me. Any decent person should object. If I were a Witness, I would travel to Bethel to object. One article was Selma and Steve. They are married. Steve is very violent and emotionally abusive towards Selma. She considers fleeing for her life. Her Witness instructor, however, tells her that she cannot be upset or angry with Steve. No, she can't cry for the bruises within her soul. She must be the perfect wive and return life threatening injury with subjugation. After fifteen years of being worse than a doormat or toilet, Steve converts to JW. It was worth all the pain. The WT did not report whether Steve stopped beating her. Unlikely with conversion to anything.
During the same time frame, the WT quoted a Nuremberg convicted and executed Nazi theologian. The man was not a great scholar during the day and an incidental Nazi at night. He provided the works that allowed Lutherans to embrace Nazism. His roles went beyond theology. Some apostates googled the quote. The point of the quote was a side issue. There was no reason under the sun to quote him.
Two women showed up. I could not find an email address on jw.org and had no stamps in my apartment. My apartment reflects my enthusiasms. It is a Beatles and Dylan shrine with a lot of Manhattan art. Christianity is important to me so I have icons, Bible quotes, and crosses on my wall. No one would call me overly religious. When they arrived, they had no idea of either issue. They were suspicioius of how I found about the Nazi. I told a partial truth. Since I live there daily, I don't see the religious art. Everyone tells me how much they love the Beatles. With the Beatle stuff on the wall, many people give me Beatles gifts. Altho the WT had just been studied, they were blank canvases. The WT can make no errors. Nazis? So what. What is wrong with Nazis? Their marriages were happy. I said that Selma's marriage was not happy. They had the gall to quote some JW scripture to me so I gestured to my bookcase which is filled with about four translations and many commentaries. C.S. Lewis. A typical American home. They looked at me as tho I were demonic and ran out. I pretended I was casting an evil spell.
